2017 Australia Council Fellowship recipients announced

The Australia Council for the Arts has announced the
recipients of the 2017 Australia Council Fellowships.

The highly sought after Fellowships, each worth $80,000 over two
years, will support eight outstanding artists across a range of art forms.

Contemporary choreographer Stephanie Lake is the recipient
of the Fellowship for Dance, which will support the development of a large
scale work involving more than 50 performers.

“This fellowship really allows me to keep going, and to be
even more ambitious in what I can achieve,”
she said.

Australia Council Fellowships
are offered once a year, with applications assessed and awarded by a peer panel
made up of experts in the relevant art forms.

Paul Jackson’s Fellowship for Theatre will allow him to expand his
practice as a multi-award winning lighting designer.

“This really is a key program for providing support and
encouragement for mid-career and established artists,” he said.

“It enables you to do those things that simply
aren’t possible when you're going from job to job trying to make a living.”

The recipient of the Community Arts and Cultural
Development Fellowship, Simon Spain, said the Fellowship would support him to continue
creating and connecting communities of young people through the arts.

“It will allow me to better advocate for arts and artists
in Tasmania and, importantly, to give more of my time to that work,” he said.

For composer Andrée Greenwell, the
Music Fellowship will allow her to pursue a series of ambitious projects,
including the development of a new work for Opera Queensland.

“I’m honoured and very excited to be undertaking
collaborations with leading Australian artists and organisations through this
award,” she said.

Arnold Zable’s Fellowship for Literature follows more than
three decades of storytelling and literary achievements.

“I think it’s important for our culture. To have an Australia
Council, and to have support for the arts in this form is an acknowledgment
that the arts matter,” he said.

This year’s eight
recipients are:

Hetti Perkins (NSW) - Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Arts

Stephanie Lake (VIC) – Dance

Simon Spain (TAS) - Community Arts
and Cultural Development

David Haines (NSW) - Visual Arts

Paul Jackson (VIC) – Theatre

Willoh S. Weiland (TAS) - Emerging
and Experimental

Arnold Zable (VIC) – Literature

Andrée Greenwell (NSW)- Music

Applications for the 2018 Fellowships
are now open until June 5th 2018. More information can be found on
our website.